As promised
in my last mail, I am now able to clarify the issue of possible
quarantine after returning from SARS-affected areas in China.

Attached
you will find the list
received from the Ministry of Public Health dated May 20, 2003
(pdf, 1 p., 12 kb). According to the rules set by
the Shanghai Municipal Government, any Shanghai-resident returning
from any of the Provinces listed under point 1, or returning
from any City listed under point 2 will have to undergo a 14
days-quarantine at home.

The list
will be updated regularly. It is apparently not available yet
online but I will inform you of any web site as soon as it becomes
available.

As promised,
the Mayor of Shanghai, Mr. Han Zheng, this morning held the
second briefing for the Consular Corps of Shanghai. To underline
the importance of the foreign community to the Municipal Government,
the briefing was also attended by several other high ranking
officials such as the Vice-Mayor in charge of foreign relations
as well as the Secretary General of the Municipal Government.
The meeting was held in an open and candid atmosphere. The Consulates
prepared a common list of pending issues presented to the Mayor
by the Dean of the Consular Corps. These issues were immediately
addressed by the Mayor. The meeting was concluded with a question
and answer session.

I am happy
to say that all issues raised by the Consulates General during
the meeting were already known to the Municipal Government and
had obviously been discussed extensively among government authorities.
The Government is fully aware of the issues still pending and
is working hard to resolve them. Some of the questions were
answered immediately by the Mayor himself, showing excellent
knowledge of the problems raised. For the other ones, he promised
an answer within a few days.

Among others,
the following issues were addressed:

Wish
for clear and understandable travelling rules for everyone
including the district and county level authorities: the municipal
authorities fully accept that there are still inconsistencies
and they are working to solve them. A full list of SARS-affected
areas according to Chinese definitions was promised for later
today. It will be updated on a daily basis.

Difference
of treatment between residents and visitors: the wish of the
foreign community residing in Shanghai to be treated on an
equal basis to the visitors coming to Shanghai is being considered.
A decision is expected in the next few days.

Transit
at airports. Shanghai will now fully follow WHO-guidelines
and international practice. A transit at Beijing, Hong Kong,
Singapore and other airports in SARS-affected areas will therefore
not anymore lead to a quarantine in Shanghai.

AC and
filters in buildings: a notice to property managers to regularly
clean the AC-systems and filters in their buildings has already
been issued. This will be changed into a rule and the implementation
will be controlled.

Coordination
with other Provinces in the Delta-region: the Shanghai authorities,
are fully aware of this necessity and are regularly consulting
with their neighbors, mainly the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces,
but also within a wider scope of the Eastern China region.

Worldlink
medical clinics: these medical clinics are not up to the necessary
standards concerning the separation of patients with fever
from other patients. A new Worldlink facility with state of
the art hardware will open in the next few days in the Luwan
Central Hospital.

The Consulate
General has the very clear impression that the Shanghai Municipal
authorities have a full understanding of the SARS issue. They
are showing excellent competence in their way to handle it and
are fully aware of the problems important to the foreign community.
They are accepting that shortcomings still exist but they are
working hard to address them. The difficulties faced are largely
due to the number of authorities involved, from the State Council
down to the local Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The fact
that such a situation is new to everyone does naturally not
make things easier.